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Ed Aarons has been busy looking at the permutations across all the Uefa qualifying groups:
Moldova v Italy teams
Moldova: Kozhukhar, Stefan, Craciun, Dumbravanu, Reabciuk, Perciun, Rata, Ionita, Revenco, Nicolaescu, Postolachi. Substitutes: Platica, Fratea, Forov, Damascan, Cucos, Caimacov, Bors, Bogaciuc, Bitca, Avram, Bodisteanu, Timbur.
Italy: Vicario, Bellanova, Mancini, Buongiorno, Cambiaso, Cristante, Tonali, Orsolini, Raspadori, Zaccagni, Scamacca. Substitutes: Bastoni, Politano, Locatelli, Retegui, Gabbia, Frattesi, Esposito, Ricci, Donnarumma, Dimarco, Di Lorenzo, Carnesecchi.
Referee: Mykola Balakin (Ukraine)
As it stands, with Hungary winning 1-0 in Armenia, Republic of Ireland would need at least a point tonight to stay in with a mathematical chance.
They would be four points behind if they lose and three behind if draw. A win tonight over Portugal would set up a winner-takes-all clash in Budapest against Hungary on Sunday.
Preamble
France can qualify for next year’s Donald Trump-themed World Cup in North America by beating Ukraine at Parc des Princes in fashionable Paris tonight, while Portugal can do the same if they defeat Republic of Ireland at fortress Aviva in Dublin.
It looks like Ireland, on the other hand, need to beat the visitors to stay in the hunt for second place in Group F with Hungary currently winning 1-0 in Armenia. Last month, Ireland suffered a late loss to tonight’s opponents on the continent, so the pressure is very much on. Azerbaijan v Iceland, Armenia v Hungary, Norway v Estonia, Moldova v Italy and Andorra v Albania are also on tonight’s menu, along with the small matter of England v Serbia at Wembley. (Super Tommy Tuchel’s team are already qualified, in case you didn’t know.)
The France v Ukraine and Ireland v Portugal fixtures, in Group D and Group F respectively, are the ones we’ll mainly focus on here. I just need to check down the back of the sofa to scrape together the pay-per-view match fees (£2.49 a pop on Amazon Prime Video) and we’ll be ready to go. Team news, previews, news and other good things coming up.
Kick-offs: 7.45pm UK time
